She soon realised, after joining the police force and being assigned to a police station in Sheffield and then London, that there were villains to be dealt with, and not all the children looked forward to an encounter with the local policeman, or in her case, the local policewoman. Some of the children were plainly disruptive, some plainly criminal, some plainly abusive.
It had been just after her fifteenth birthday that her hormones had kicked in. Brian Hardcastle, a headmaster’s son and a tall, skinny rake of a boy, had not been the most suitable introduction to the joy of sex.
The barn where there consummated their lust, each taking the other’s virginity, was hot and smelly. It was a five-minute affair: with him being disappointed in his performance ‒ he had read books on the subject ‒ and her being ecstatic. For a while, her father had tried to confine her to her room, but her mother had eventually intervened. ‘It’s a phase she’s going through. Exploring her sexuality,’ she had said. She had learnt the phrase from a book in the local library. Her father, increasingly annoyed at the ribbing he received at the pub over his wayward daughter, kept away for a few months, but in the end the ribbing ceased and he went back to his five pints a night. He was glad when Wendy joined the police force and went to Sheffield. Once out of the village, she found the need for a multitude of men had subsided.
Her husband came along when she was nineteen, an old man ‒ at least, in her mother’s eyes ‒ of twenty-nine.
***
‘One room, please,’ Wendy said as she stood at the reception desk at the Abbey Hotel in Malvern. It was five-star, the sort of hotel where Marjorie Frobisher would stay. She also knew that it was beyond her salary, and if it had not been official business and a police-issue credit card, she would have found a room above a pub.
Her room, second floor with a view overlooking the Priory, was splendid. Smoke-free, which she did not like, but the window opened wide. She had a warm bath. Too many cigarettes and too many big meals had left her body worn and sagging. She had promised many times to change her ways; she always failed within a day.
Refreshed, she headed downstairs. The worst approach with the receptionist who had identified the missing woman would be to flash her badge. She knew it would put her on the defensive. It seemed best to identify her first. She was not in view, and Wendy did not want to go asking questions and raising suspicion. A good meal, a couple of glasses of wine, and an early night seemed the best approach. The next day she would find the receptionist; indulge in idle conversation about the local tourist highlights, television programmes ‒ especially the one she was interested in.
***
Farhan met Samantha again. She was pleased when he rang. They met in the same prearranged spot as before. She brought two curries: one for him, one for her, from an Indian restaurant not far from her office. He appreciated the gesture.
‘Samantha.’
‘Please call me Aisha. I prefer Aisha.’
‘Aisha, there was an incident the first night at the hotel. The woman you met, did you speak to her?’
‘Not really. She arranged for us to come in. I think she disapproved.’
‘That’s probably correct.’
‘Aisha, it’s best if you think before you speak. I should really ask you to come down to the station and make a statement…’
‘You’re trying to protect me?’
‘You and Olivia.’
‘You’ve met her? What was she like?’
‘I’m not sure it would be appropriate for me to tell you.’
‘Did you like her? At least, you can tell me that.’
‘I did not like her as much as you.’
‘I would have been upset if you had,’ she replied.
‘She has her reasons, the same as you. Let’s go back to the first night. What happened?’
‘Sutherland was high on alcohol and drugs.’
‘Were you?’
‘Not at all. I don’t even drink. I play along with the client, same as Olivia. You need to be a good actor sometimes.’
‘Please continue.’
‘As I told you before, we were on the floor with him.’
‘And then?’
‘The woman walks in unexpectedly. She must have assumed we had gone, as we were not making much noise. She was checking that all was okay, I suppose.’
‘What did Sutherland do?’
‘He jumped up and exposed himself to her. She looked as though she had never seen a naked man before. With her standing there and it getting late, I went into the bedroom with Olivia. We dressed in our going home clothes and left soon after.’
‘Going home clothes?’
‘Yes, of course. I can hardly walk in the door at my parent’s house looking like a painted tart. I change into my regular work clothes, take off the perfume.’
‘And the woman?’
‘We were out of there in five minutes. Sutherland had sobered up by then, and she was serving him coffee. We weren’t looking, but it appeared relatively calm. It wasn’t for us to nursemaid them. I assumed her job was to take care of
